Flight MS804 was on fire before it crashed. Leaked data shows smoke alarms were sounding in the plane's toilets for almost 3 minutes as the disaster unfolded.

The new information suggests that a fire on board the EgyptAir plane is a more likely reason for the crash than a bomb, although experts have not ruled out the use of an 'incendiary device'.

While Egyptian officials continue saying that they suspect terrorism, no group has yet come forward to claim credit as theories as to the cause of the crash continue to circulate.

66 passengers and crew killed in the EgyptAir disaster.

Hunt for clues: The Egyptian army today reported finding wreckage and personal belongings from the missing jet around 180 miles north of Alexandria. The discovery came a day after other debris found in another area near the African coast turned out not to come the plane

The leaked data was filed through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), a data link for sending messages between planes and ground facilities.

According to the leaked data, smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit first began sounding at 00.26GMT. Less than a minute later, smoke was also detected in the avionics electronics.

The final two alerts from the plane indicate faults with the FCU - the flight control unit used by the pilot to input instructions into the flight computer - and the SEC 3 - the computer that controls the plane's spoilers and elevator computers.

The Aviation Herald claimed to have received the data from three independent channels, which were unidentified, but there has as yet been no official confirmation.

Clues: This image released by the European Space Agency from its Sentinel-1A satellite reportedly shows a two-mile-long oil slick (circled) in the Mediterranean Sea around 20 miles from the last-known location of the EgyptAir plane which vanished near Greece on Thursday

It could have been either something mechanical that had failed, a short circuit, or it could have been an incendiary device of some kind as well. David Soucie, aviation analyst told CNN according to Daily Mail reports.

'Now if it was a bomb, the characteristic bomb... would have ruptured the skin of the aircraft,' he said.

'This is not the indication you would have had, because a bomb that would do that would be instantaneous, and these reports would not have gone over two minutes like they do.'

The analyst added that a fire in the front section of the plane may well have affected the communications equipment.